SHAH ALAM, Nov 29 — PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar today invoked a deed she said her father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, performed for Sabah, amid accusations of treason against her for meeting with the daughter of the Sulu “Sultan” who invaded Lahad Datu in 2013.

Speaking at the PKR annual congress here, the Lembah Pantai MP sought to claim credit for Anwar over developments in the state as well as the greater recognition accorded to Sabah by Putrajaya in recent years.

“I want to remind that it was the PKR de facto leader who was the first to suggest Malaysia Day to acknowledge that Sabah and Sarawak are equal partners.

“The Pan-Borneo Highway that is being constructed; don’t forget, it was in the Orange Book for years. We came up with that suggestion,” she said during her winding up speech today, referring to the 2013 election manifesto of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

In 2010, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared Malaysia Day on September 16 to be a national holiday.

Nurul Izaah stressed that she will continue to defend the sovereignty of Sabah despite being banned from the state, a move that she blamed on malicious rivals but which she said she accepted with a “heavy heart”.

“We will prove who the real traitor is. Remove your masks and show yourselves. Don’t stoop so low to the level of gutter politics that brings about hate and animosity,” she cried out to the fully packed convention hall.

Nurul Izzah triggered controversy by posing together with Jacel Kiram for photographs during a trip to the Philippines.

Jacel is the daughter of Jamalul Kiram III, the self-styled Sulu “sultan” who ordered the invasion of Lahad Datu in Sabah in 2013, in which 10 Malaysian security personnel were killed.

Nurul Izzah later confirmed that she was in the Philippines on November 9 with fellow federal lawmaker Chua Tian Chang as part of a PKR delegation to meet with “various stakeholders” there, and explained that the guests were decided by the organisers and she had no knowledge she would be meeting Jacel.

On Thursday, the Sabah legislative assembly voted in favour of a motion to ban Nurul Izzah and Chua from entering the state over the issue.

Police are also investigating both lawmakers over the meeting.